ANKARA, Turkey – Turkish prosecutors are seeking sentences of up to seven and a half years in prison for 18 journalists they accuse of engaging in terror propaganda for publishing photos showing a militant pointing a gun at a prosecutor who was killed in a failed hostage rescue operation in March.

The state-run Anadolu Agency reported late Tuesday that an indictment prepared by the Istanbul chief prosecutor's office is demanding prison terms for editors of nine newspapers, including Can Dundar, editor-in-chief of the opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper. The indictment has yet to be approved by a court.

The photos showed militants of an outlawed leftist group pointing a gun at the prosecutor.

At the time, Turkey blocked access to social networking sites Twitter and YouTube for several hours over the photos.